


Naught

by alphai



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Agender Character, Nonbinary Character, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3826072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphai/pseuds/alphai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>—She noticed it, of course. The subtle anger whenever someone threw around words like “bro” or “dude.” They were meant to be casual, but they clearly had an effect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Naught

**Author's Note:**

> did you know that zer0 has been confirmed as agender by multiple borderlands devs??  
> because it makes me pretty darn happy so i had to write something about it

"Lilith, may we speak?"

Months ago, before the siren had grown accustomed to Zero's habit of sneaking around the city and appearing at random intervals to speak, hearing these words so suddenly would have made her jump damn near off the planet. But Lilith was used to this by now. Most of Sanctuary's citizens couldn't say the same.

"Something you need?" she replied, looking up from one of the monitors to turn and face him.

"It's...a bit complicated."

"Most of what we do these days is. I'm sure I can handle it."

"It's different from that."

Lilith folded her arms, giving a look to where she assumed his eyes would be.

"You know that whatever it is, you can tell me, killer." she said, more sincerity in her voice than she thought she could have right now. "I'm not just your leader, I'm your _friend_. You can trust me."

He was silent at this, and Lilith was at least somewhat worried that she had said something wrong. She thought that their friendship was apparent, considering how many times they had saved each other's lives. Maybe this planet gave lower expectations as to what made someone your friend.

"I know that. Thank you." His voice had lost some of its harshness now. He was being sincere, too. "It's a personal matter about my comfort."

"Did someone here do something?" It wouldn't be the first time. She knew just as well as anyone else how invasive Pandorans were when it came to privacy.

"No, not exactly. From ignorance, not malice. Still, it...bothers me."

This was a person who derived enjoyment from being covered in someone else's blood after decapitating them. To say that something was bothering him said a lot.

“Well, what is it?”

“It seems minor, but…how the others speak of me. They’re doing it wrong.” He was still dancing around the actual topic. Either that, or he was having trouble conveying his message in haiku.

“They’re saying you’re a robot—or an alien—sometimes both.” Most of the stories were pretty entertaining to say the least, even though Lilith was certain none of them were true. “You told me you’re not human. Is that—”

“It’s not about that.” Zero almost sounded nervous now, which was a rarity in itself. “They speak of me like I’m  _male_ , and that isn’t true.”

“…Oh.”

That was all Lilith could think to say. Zero’s discomfort was obvious, at least to her. And she noticed it, of course. The subtle anger whenever someone threw around words like “bro” or “dude.” They were meant to be casual, but they clearly had an effect.

At any rate, it didn’t take siren abilities to remember that the only two people who had blatantly used the word “guy” to refer to Zero ended up rotting in the glare of Pandora’s sun.

“Okay,” she responded after a moment, nodding. “I understand. I…what’s the correct way to talk about you? As ‘they?’”

“‘They,’ yes.” Zero had been tense for the majority of this conversation, but that was replaced with relief now. “Thank you.”

“Hey, I’m glad you told me,” Lilith said. “Do you want me to tell the other Raiders?”

“Please do. That would be helpful.”

“You may be a murderous, bloodthirsty vault hunter, but you still deserve to feel comfortable here, okay?”

Zero offered a projected heart at this statement, and Lilith couldn’t help but laugh. It felt like she hadn’t done that in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> things im not good at: ending fics


End file.
